I’m not going to get all preachy about Thanksgiving. Like all holiday’s its origin has its pros and cons and it’s “All in good Fun”. Hell, who doesn’t want a ton of good food and a day off? I do feel like it’s a perfect time to talk about the power of Gratitude though. I mean the holiday is called Thanks—Giving…

 

What I want to focus on is Gratitude and how absolutely powerful it is. and why especially on a day like today it shouldn’t be a secondary focus behind turkey and pie…mmmm pie. There’s something almost magical about setting aside a time to give thanks for the positives you have in your life, and this much the holiday get’s right. Although I believe it should be expanded in all of our lives into a deliberate everyday practice.

 

See, we live in this consumer-driven and materialistic society (I know I said I wasn’t going to critique) that doesn’t really put a lot of emphasis on giving thanks for what one has. It’s always…

“Ok I’ve got this thing, now what’s next.”

 

Where’s the next level? the upgrade, the promotion,the new Samsung Galaxy with double the explosive power? etc.

 

I’m oftentimes VERY guilty of this as a self-proclaimed achiever. There have been so many times in my life where myself or someone close to me has had to gently tell me to STFU  whining about what I don’t have yet, what I haven’t achieved yet, and focus on being grateful, and even proud of what I do have and have accomplished.

 

The power of Gratitude became really apparent to me close to this time last year when I was flat broke. No job. All my prospects somehow disappeared at once and everyday was a wonderful adventure of how much closer I’d be to missing next month’s rent at the end of the day.

 

I was looking for ways to wake up in the morning and still have some semblance of order and peace in my life and one of the MOST POWERFUL things I learned was to have a daily gratitude practice.

 

I would wake up in the morning. Look at my vision board before I started my day of scheming and looking for gigs or work, and I’d say aloud exactly what I was grateful for.

 

• The fact that although I was broke I still wasn’t “broke” broke.  I still had a roof over my head for now

 

• The fact that even though I couldn’t always see it, everyday was an opportunity for something to happen that could change my situation

 

• When I finally got a job – that I hated – I would still say that I was grateful to have a income in the first place

 

• My Loving and concerned Family

 

• Supportive friends and relationships

 

• good health

 

• a sound mind

 

And a lot of other things that in moments of self-pity don’t even try to come across one’s mind.

 

That’s the Power of Gratitude.

It focuses your consciousness on what is going RIGHT. What is not all bad about you or your life or the world. It also helps you to realize that although you didn’t get to buy the groceries you wanted to, you were able to eat SOMETHING that day. That although you don’t drive the car you would like to or have the creative prospects that you wish you had, you’re able to live in a place where you can pursue your dreams at all,  no matter how slow the progress.

Once you spend a while thinking about, and Thanking God or the Universe for what you DO have. It’s hard to wallow in the pity of what you don’t.

It motivates you to put in the work to add what’s not on the list yet to the list, without the feeling of emptiness that comes with trying to claw for something out of reach that you feel like you can”t have just yet.

It gives you a sense of peace about the Journey about the opportunity for this day to be better than yesterday…and even if it’s not, you still have so much to be grateful and Thankful for as you go to bed and face the day again with everything you had the day before including the glimmer of hope for the future.

It’s also good for your health in general: http://successyeti.com/motivation/infographic-gratitude-is-good-for-your-health/2016/09/21

One quote on my vision board is:

“What If you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked god for today?”

Many of us, even on Thanksgiving, would wake up without even the bed we went to sleep on.

So try to incorporate a gratitude practice into your daily life. Not just on a day like today.

I’m not going to lie, i need to rejuvenate my own so bad. It can provide so much perspective, so much clarity and so much PEACE to your mind. If you’re a dreamer and an achiever this is absolutely Necessary.

I’ll take this moment to say I am so grateful for you, and  the opportunity to reach out to you.  I thank you so much for reading this.

Great things are on the horizon for you. Take care.

Yes yes I know I have been MIA for a while and I apologize if you were looking for more from me. There will be more. I promise. I have gone though quite a few transitions of late, and although it’s no excuse, I have been trying to find my path back to the mic and the keyboard regularly. This is a start.

Enjoy your day!!

-Ellis

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Thanks!

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Also published on Medium.